Wednesday

BRAINTREE -- Saturday’s game was a learning experience. The days of practice that followed, and Wednesday night’s game, proved the experience was positive.

“I’m really proud of our response after a tough loss,” Braintree High School girls basketball coach Kristen McDonnell said after the Wamps rebounded with a 76-53 non-league victory over perennial Rhode Island powerhouse La Salle Academy.

“We got back to executing the last two days, and really focusing on details. The kids played that way … broke down the game to simplify it for ourselves.”

The defending Div. 1 state champions, who fell in Saturday’s home opener to 2018 state semifinalist Wachusett Regional, 56-49, were a little antsy at the start on Wednesday, turning the ball over four times in the first three minutes. Shortly after Aria DiNobile’s 3-pointer gave the Rams an 8-7 lead, however, the Wamps (4-1) took off to the extent that they were able to use chunks of the second half to give lesser-used players some time against a program that has won 10 Rhode Island championships under coach Sean Reddy, the most recent in 2016 and ’17.

“That was also nice about this,” McDonnell said. “I wish I could have gotten some kids even more experience, but (La Salle) is such a scary team. They can come back when they start shooting 3s, and I wanted to make sure of this one.”

Senior co-captains Adriana Timberlake, Jeniyah Jones and Barbara Ronca actually made sure of it in Wednesday’s first quarter. With Jones (18 points) stealing, slashing and driving for seven points and Ronca (10 points) adding a pair of 3s, the Wamps could afford to wait for returning All-Scholastic Timberlake (19 points) to find her touch: Braintree had a 15-8 lead before Timberlake scored a point, and she poured in the last 11 of the first quarter to give Braintree a 26-11 lead. The Rams rarely came within 14 points after that.

“What I like about what (Timberlake) did was that she was very poised in the offense,” McDonnell said. “(The Rams) were in her face, but she took it more in stride. I think she’s going to continue to learn from the pressure she’s going to get, every game.”

Likewise, the goal for Jones and Ronca is to play more like difference-makers, particularly when it comes to replacing the production of graduated two-time All-Scholastic Jenna Roche. Jones, who moved steadily up the rotation last season, doubled her 9.2 point-per-game average on Wednesday.

“That’s a huge game for her,” McDonnell said. “When she’s looking (for scoring opportunities) for herself, she becomes such a threat that the other team has to worry about it. Then, she makes great passes to others. One leads to the other, and I think she’s starting to understand that.”

As sophomore Aisling Crowley develops into a rebounder and defender who can help mitigate the loss of All-Scholastic Rachel Tutkus to graduation, the Wamps will try to give players like junior Shai Dixon and sophomore Lily Adams (7 points on Wednesday) more time and opportunity against tough opponents like La Salle.

“If we can give kids like that experience, we’ll be better for it in the long run,” McDonnell said. “We’re going to need to go eight, nine deep as the season progresses.”